Harnessing the Sun's energy is very easy with ProSolarTec's Kinley Dual Mirror System and Prometheus Engineers are finding just as easy methods of converting that energy into different forms. By placing different types of collectors in the focus the Team has proven the that the Prometheus technology can be used for many applications. One of those applications is steam generation.

By focusing the incredible heat production of the Prometheus technology on custom built heat exchangers, the Prometheus Team has succeeded in converting a constant flow of water into steam and continues to experiment with steam generation methods.

Heat Exchangers

The Team has experimented with a number of different heat exchangers finding ways to improve the method of producing steam. Solid block, and wound coil exchangers have been utilized and the Prometheus Team has developed a number of different methods for manufacturing these heat exchangers out of a number of different materials.

One issue that has been plaguing steam experiments is the fact that the collector can become too hot. This has happened a few times which has caused a meltdown of the heat exchanger. It was proven that the easiest solution was to ensure a steady water flow and to increase the flow rate as the temperature rises.

Steam Engine

On the 2nd of August 2009 a model steam engine was connected to the steam system on the Beta Gamma Prototype of the Kinley Dual Mirror System. Not long after the mirrors were turned towards the Sun the steam engine began to run at very high RPM. Although no power rating was determined in this experiment it shows that the Prometheus technology is very capable of converting Sunlight to mechanical energy.

More experiments are planed to prove the efficiency and power rating of the different size prototypes.

Future Experiments

As the Prometheus team continues to make improvements to the different prototypes, they anticipate considerable increases in steam production capabilities. More experiments are planed to find different methods of generation steam other mechanical devices such as a steam turbine are planed to be tested.

Future Applications

Steam engines and Steam turbines

Energy storage

Electricity generation

Cogeneration

Sterilization

Prometheus News

Dalhousie Collaboration

Various collaborative projects have been conducted between the LIFE Prometheus team and Dalhousie University. Heat of fusion and ray tracing research, conducted by faculty and students of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, have been used to both measure the current power of Prometheus prototypes, and project the potential of prototypes in the future. The consensus of these research projects: Not only is this technology already incredibly powerful, but there is potential for even more growth.

For more on The Prometheus Team and Collaboration with other groups please click here.